Saturday, January 22, 2011

Christmas

We had another wonderful Christmas celebration this year.
We started off at Alan's Aunt and Uncle's House for our Christmas Eve festivities:

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Chase was shocked at how much fun he had!

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Chase and Auntie Megan.

Cousin Tanyon.

Cousins Kristin, Jessica, and Tanyon.

Alan, Jackson's back, and I.

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Jackson and Tanyon playing a HUGE game of Hungry Hippo.

﻿ That night we headed to Alan's Granny's house where we spent the night and woke up the next morning to a homemade southern breakfast (biscuits and gravy, sausage, eggs, etc.) and opening more presents.

Jackson was VERY excited for presents.

Waiting patiently...

Chase is quite possibly the only baby I know who LIKES getting clothes. He tries them on right away.

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Granny and Debbie (Nana)- two generations of sweet ladies. =)

Nana and Papa helping Jackson open his BATCAVE!

Debbie opening a present.

Sweet brothers.

LOVE Chase's face.

Then that night we left for my mom and dad's house because it was snowing pretty heavily and only expected to snow more. We drove through the snow and it was a beautiful white Christmas. We arrived at Mom and Dad's around midnight. We celebrated Christmas the next morning with the WHOLE family: Mom, Dad, Anne (aaand baby #2 who is due in May if you want to get technical), Danny, Luke, Liz, Matt, Becky, Alan, Jackson, Chase, and I. We didn't get any pics of the whole family but I anticipate quite a few of those in June for Liz's wedding.

Anne, Beck, and Luke

My Mom and Chasey.

First engaged Christmas.

Anne and Lukey.

The cousins!

Storytime.

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Gigi and Buzz Lightyear.

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Gpa and Chase.

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Chase working on his toolbench.

Just hanging out.

This wasn't technically on Christmas. It was the Sunday before Christmas at church. Jackson was an angel in the Christmas musical and Aunt Boo came to see him.

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They love each other. =)

It was a wonderful Christmas. The older I get, the easier it has become for me to love Christmas. I know a lot of people don't feel that way, but I do. It has truly become a celebration of Jesus' birth for me. I am thrilled by the songs celebrating His birth that I hear in all the public venues during the holidays. I love that people actually DO the things that Jesus told us to do- like helping the poor (Salvation Army, Angel Tree, The Rescue Mission, etc.). I love that people tend to smile more and that there is a magic everywhere that people can't quite put their finger on. It's Jesus. He permeates the holiday season and brings a joy that those who don't know Him are drawn to. They know there is something special, something better than the everyday lives they know, but they often buy into the materialistic lies that the world tries to sell. I enjoy presents. This year we got an amazing new dining room table to enjoy family meals around! Our old one was a wobbly, old kitchen table that we've had for 8 years (since we got married) and that my parent's used for many years before that. But presents are not what it's about. I loved looking around at my family during Christmas. I loved seeing the joy written on their faces as we spent time together, as we laughed together, shared happy hour together, as we watched the little ones laughing together. We have been blessed and we know every good thing comes from God. Like Christmas.

The Family.

Alan Lee, Sarah Rachel, Jackson Ryan, and Chase Andrew. I like middle names. =) I am a former elementary school teacher and current stay at home mom. I love Jesus, my family, my friends, reading, Young Life, girls nights out, Happy Hour, running, vacationing (especially to the beach) and life in general!